Crimeline Finishes Up Record Year 1,500 Phoned-in Tips Help Solve 124 Cases

January 1, 1986|By Prakash Gandhi of The Sentinel Staff

A record number of callers made 1985 one of the best years yet for Crimeline, the Central Florida crime-solving program, its director said Tuesday.

Crimeline received about 1,500 tips last year, more than any year since the program began in July 1977, said Jim Bishop, an Orlando police officer who oversees the non-profit organization.

''People are more aware of the Crimeline program and I think people are becoming responsible for doing something about their community,'' Bishop said. Crimeline uses television and radio broadcasts to re-enact unsolved crimes in Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Brevard, Lake, Osceola and Polk counties.

People who think they may know something about a crime can call 849-2482 to give information. They may remain anonymous.

Rewards up to $1,000 are available to callers whose information leads to an arrest.

Crimeline tips helped solve 124 cases last year, an increase of 29 from 1984 and the highest number since 1981, when 134 cases were resolved.

The program also helped recover stolen property worth $93,365 and paid $11,775 in rewards.

Bishop said Tuesday he was particularly pleased with the number of tips Crimeline received. ''We have had more tips this year than any year, which shows people want to help,'' he said. ''The real important guide to how successful the program is is not just the number of cases we have solved, but the number of times the phone rings.

''The number of calls we have received show that people want to make Central Florida a safer place to live.''

Crimeline was flooded with calls after Paul Jewell was badly burned in an explosion on Christmas 1984 in Lockhart and after the abduction of Orlando youngster Regina Mae Armstrong in June.

''Whenever a child is a victim of a brutal crime, the calls flood in,'' Bishop said.

About a third of the cases solved involved information about people wanted on warrants.

Bishop believes Crimeline's biggest achievement was helping establish the identity of Hazel Phelps, who was murdered in February.

Three days after her mutilated body was found, Crimeline received a call from a man who said he knew the identity of the Orlando woman. Investigators identified her with that information and later arrested her husband. The caller gave his $1,000 reward to the dead woman's family.

Bishop said his biggest disappointment was the failure to solve the mystery of Regina Mae Armstrong's disappearance.

''At least we know Paul Jewell is alive and well. With Regina, we don't know if she is alive or not,'' he said.

Since the program began, 968 crimes have been solved with its tips and more than $52,000 in rewards have been paid.